


Dulce et Utile

by keyboardclicks



Category: Raffles - E. W. Hornung
Genre: Gen, POV First Person, Pre-Canon, Schoolboy Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 21:29:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6256585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyboardclicks/pseuds/keyboardclicks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A warm March evening, a dubious stone ledge, and a mentor who knows but never tells, make for one most interesting night for our young Bunny Manders.</p><p>Alternate Title: Raffles knows Latin and is a Show-Off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dulce et Utile

            It was an uncommonly warm and sleepy evening in late March, the exact date of which I struggle to recall.  A slight breeze drifted in from the open window, and songbirds could be heard singing their evening tune.  Raffles and I sat upon the sofa of his study, taking turns reading passages from one of my books.  It was for my Latin studies, in which I struggled a great deal more than I wished to, and Raffles had taken it upon himself to help me.  However, even with one’s most treasured companion, reading phrases in a dead language did tire one’s brain after so long, and I requested a short break.

            “Excellent work, Bunny,” said Raffles, marking the book’s page and setting it aside.  “I can see the improvement already.”

            “Thank you, Raffles.  It’s all because-”

            “I know you’re about to say it’s because you have the best of teachers,” he smiled knowingly, standing to stretch his legs.  “And while I appreciate the sentiment, it’s nonsense.  I could be the best teacher on God’s Earth, but you wouldn’t learn a thing if you didn’t try.  You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

            I felt my cheeks tinge pink and I smiled proudly up at my mentor, who in turn smiled back before wandering over to the window.  My mind creates the image of a lit Sullivan between his fingers as he leaned against the sill, but it’s simply a trick; to my knowledge Raffles never touched a cigarette while we were in school.  At the very least he never touched them around me.

            “A beautiful night,” he said.  “I wonder if tomorrow will be as favorable.”

            “Going into town?” I asked.  On principal Raffles never left if there was the chance of a storm, lest he be caught sopping wet.

            “Not quite, but there is one thing on my mind… a sort of lead I’ve been meaning to check out for days now.  If you’re up for the task, that is.”

            “Of course.”  I had grown to enjoy the part I played in Raffles’ nighttime excursions, for even if I did not partake in the adventure itself, my role was vital to Raffles’ safety and continued enrollment at our school; he had told me so on many occasions.  I never felt so important as I did those evenings when I waited patiently, albeit sleepily, for his return so that I may throw down the rope and help him up.

            Raffles turned from the window to me, smiling.  “Glad to hear it, Bunny.  I truly couldn’t do it without you.  Know, though, that what I mean to embark on is not one of my typical rendezvous, and that I don’t only require your help, but also your company.”

            I started.  “You don’t mean-”

            “I do, my little rabbit, I do.”  The lamplight hit his face just right as he turned it towards me, illuminating his smile and the twinkle in his eyes.  I stared at him, my jaw surely hanging open and my eyes wide.  Up to this point I had played my part dutifully, but had never expected to be asked to do something like _this!_  I found myself struggling for words, my tongue tripping in its haste.

            “B-but,” I began, “how?  How would we get out?  Or get back in?  And what about me?  You can pass with a false beard, Raffles, but I can’t.”  I was too small, my face too young and my voice too high to pass for anything other than what I was, unless he intended to put me in a dress, but where would he have gotten one of those whilst in a boy’s school?  (Then again, where did he get the false beard?  That I never questioned.)

            “Don’t worry, don’t worry.  I’ve got it all planned out, Bunny, and you wouldn’t even need a disguise, nor would I.  We’d barely be leaving the school grounds so your normal clothes would do just fine, I promise.”

            “Where would we be going?”  I found my heart racing at the mere prospect, and I hardly even cared what the destination was.  The simple idea of being at Raffles’ side was enough to make me giddy!

            “Oh, just into the forest behind the school,” he said.  “But rather far back, mind you.  There’s a certain spot I’ve visited a number of times and something I’ve found has piqued my interest.”

            Something he’d found?  What could possibly be so interesting about the forest?  I didn’t ask, confident that if Raffles found it to be important, then it must have been so.  He had a knack for that, convincing others that he knew what he was doing even if he only had the most basic of information.  It was a skill which followed him into adulthood.

I next asked, “Are you sure you want _me_ to come?”

            He didn’t even hesitate, only widened his smile.  “Of course!  Who else would I ask?  Bunny, you’re the only lad I know who I can trust with this, and if there’s a reward to be had, I say we shall split it equally.”

            That only served to confuse and excite me further, and I sat wondering what he could possibly have been planning.  Then, as if to infuriate me, Raffles said, “But enough of that for now, Bunny; we’d best get back to your Latin.”

            How could I think of language when such an idea had been proposed to me?!  I asked this, and Raffles tutted, and patted me patronizingly on the head.  
  
            “Schoolwork comes first,” he said.  

            I wanted to protest, but stayed my tongue, and obediently reopened my Latin book to the page which he had marked some minutes before.  We sat and read until the clock struck the next hour and Raffles decided that it was enough for one evening.  My eyes had begun to burn in the dim light; I rubbed them sleepily and let out a yawn.

            “I do believe it’s nearly time for little rabbits to get to bed,” Raffles chuckled, then he yawned himself.  “Oh, and perhaps me, as well.”

            “Not yet!” I insisted.  “First you _must_ tell me about this plan, Raffles!  I can’t stand it!”  It had been nagging at my mind the entire time, the thoughts of how and when and why dancing at the corners of my brain.

            “Still thinking of that, are you?”  He raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

            “Of course!”

            Raffles chuckled.  “Good, good.  Very well, then.  Just know that I really have figured this entire thing out already, hm?  Your first question was how we would get out, and subsequently how we would get back in.  Simple; there’s a doorway on the ground floor of the building that’s directly below a window on this floor, and above that doorway is a ledge.  It’s a small ledge, but enough to stand on if one is careful.  We would stash a rope in that hallway before we leave, then I’ll climb out of the window, onto the doorway ledge, and hop down onto the grass, and you would follow after.  Then, once we return, I will lift you on my shoulders to the ledge, and you can climb up through the window, let down the rope, and I’ll climb back up, and we’ll both be back in bed before anyone can notice we’ve left.”

            I listened intently, and it certainly sounded like an intelligent plan provided we were both quiet.  “Alright, but why would we be going to the forest?  What have you found there?”

            “No more questions,” he decided, tapping me squarely on the nose.  He smiled, and the look in his eyes was knowing and clever, full of his unique brand of mischief.  It was a smile I was familiar with, and one I would learn to love above all others.  “Those things you’ll have to find out tomorrow. ”

            “But you mentioned a rewa-”

            “I mentioned a _possible_ reward,” he corrected.  “I have no definite proof to say that there will be one, but if my hunch is correct then I do believe this little adventure could prove to be _dulce et utile 1._”

            I stared at him a moment, my mind taking that long to comprehend the bit of Latin he had provided, then smiled.  “Alright,” I said, “though I still wish you’d tell me why.”

            “It would ruin the surprise, Bunny,” he trilled, “It would ruin the surprise.” 

\--- 

            The next day seemed to pass in agonizing slowness as I attended my classes, and I could not get my mind off of what was to come that evening. Every minute seemed to stretch into an eternity, and despite my greatest efforts I could not seem to focus.  However, mixed with that distracting excitement was a sense of dread, and I felt as if every person I passed could see what I was planning to do, and that they planned to punish me for it.  I calmed myself by thinking of Raffles, and how he had never been caught in all his time of sneaking out.  Since I would be with him, I told myself that there was no reason for me to fear.  And yet a lingering wave of anxiety would sometimes rush over me, and my heart would suddenly begin to race.

            I did not see Raffles until evening, when lessons were over and the school had fallen into the lull of another week’s end.  He found me outside and bade me walk with him, so I obediently followed, compensating for my shorter gate by taking quicker steps in order to keep up with his long strides.

            “Tonight’s the night, Bunny mine,” he smiled.  “Are you quite prepared?”

            “As I can be,” was my response.  “I still don’t understand what we’re doing.”

            “You know what is essential,” he promised.  He then looked past me and waved, shouting a hello to someone whose name I recognized but cannot now recall.  A member of the cricket team, I believe, but perhaps not.  There was not a boy on the grounds who did not know A. J. Raffles, and a fair number of them were on friendly terms with him.

            “When should we meet?” I asked, once his attention had returned to me.  “And where?”

            “Eleven pm and not a moment sooner,” was his answer.  “I’ll come to your door and be there when you come out.”

            “And I should wear?”  He had cited no need for a disguise, but I was still unsure.

            Raffles paused and thought for a moment.  “Anything, I suppose, so long as you don’t mind getting it dirty.  And I wouldn’t recommend your nightgown and slippers; we may be in for a warm evening but I don’t think quite warm enough for that.  Ah, here we are.”

            We stopped our walk, and for my part I was glad.  I had started to lose my breath from moving so quickly.  I had also not been aware that we were walking with a particular destination in mind, but I suppose people do not walk with such purpose when they are going nowhere.

            “Look there, Bunny,” said Raffles, pointing towards the nearby building of stone.  “See that door?  Look, there’s the ledge I told you about.  And above it, the window.”

            “Oh!  That’s the north hallway.  That makes it easier; we can hide the rope in-”

            Raffles quickly shushed me.  “Not so loud!” he scolded.  “Anyone could be nearby; even Nabs could chance to have a walk this way.  But yes, that is the north hallway, and that the window where we shall make our escape tonight.”

            “We can hide the rope in the potted plant at the corner,” I repeated, this time softer.  “It’s a big pot; should be deep enough.”

            “Excellent, I was thinking the same,” Raffles beamed.  “Great minds think alike, my little rabbit.  Now then, do you see the ledge?”

            “Yes,” I nodded, though now wary.  It was less of a ledge and more of an assortment of bricks barely sticking out from the wall, hardly big enough for a person to stand on whilst on their toes.  “It is rather small… are you sure we can stand on it?”  

            “Sure as sure can be.  I promise you, all it takes is a bit of balance.”

            I still hesitated.  “And it’s still rather high up…”

            “That’s why you’ll have to climb onto my shoulders to get back up.”

            “But what if I fall?”

            “Then I shall catch you.  Don’t worry, Bunny, I won’t let you get hurt.  I’ll be right below you when you jump or fall or however you manage to get down, and I’ll be sure to see you get back up again.”

            Many parts of me were still hesitant, particularly the bones which I was most likely to break, but I nodded after deciding that I could not go back on my word.  I had told Raffles I would join him, and so I would, that was that.

            “Very good,” he said.  “Now don’t forget, I’ll be outside your door at exactly eleven.”

\---

            He wasn’t outside of my door at exactly eleven.  Nor was he there at eleven and a quarter.  I began to grow nervous that something had happened to him, or that perhaps he had gone without me.  I decided to go to the north hallway in the event that he had simply decided to go ahead of me, and sure enough that was where I found him.

           “Raffles!” I said, though kept my voice to a loud whisper.

           “Ah!” he turned to face me and smiled brightly.  “There you are, Bunny!  I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t show.”

           I frowned, reminding him that we had agreed to meet outside of my door, telling him that I had gotten worried.

           “Yes, I know, but as I was on my way I thought I heard footsteps coming from your hall and I thought, better than chancing it, I would just come straight here.  I thought you would do the same after I didn’t show.  Well, it took a bit, but I suppose you ARE here now, so let us be off.  I’ve already hidden the rope.”

           I resisted the urge to pout and followed behind, thinking that he might have come looking for me and saved me the trouble of worrying.   He slid the window open, and I watched him expertly climb up onto the windowsill and carefully lower himself out, putting his weight onto his arms as he steadied his feet on the tiny ledge.

           “Alright,” he said, “here comes the hard part.  It’s not too much of a fall but I do suspect it will leave my legs shaking for a moment.  Wish me luck, Bunny.”

           I eyed him warily.  “Good luck…”

           Raffles only smiled, as he always did, then carefully released the windowsill and turned, jumping from his perch.  I watched anxiously as he descended, landing and falling to his knees, then using the momentum to do a forward roll, and popping back up, as immaculate as ever.

           “Alright!” he called up.  “Your turn, now.”

           I nodded, but suddenly felt my legs shaking.  It seemed like an even farther height than it had when I had been on the ground, and I suddenly had the image of myself falling helplessly to what felt like my demise.  Nervously, I climbed onto the window, slowly turning myself around and lowering my feet to the ledge.  It was a much greater distance for me than it had been for Raffles, what with our height difference, and I struggled to keep my balance as my feet found their position.

           “Good,” Raffles encouraged.  “Now just jump backwards; I’ll catch you!”

           Fear suddenly ran through me and my whole body felt cold.  I felt frozen, stuck to the building and yet like a slight breeze would detach me and make me plummet.  The distance seemed even greater now that I was only imagining it, not even able to look down at the lawn.  It seemed like Raffles was a lifetime away, and that if I jumped he couldn’t possibly catch me.  I clung harder to the windowsill.

           “Bunny?” called Raffles.  “Come on; jump.”

           “I-I can’t!” I called over my shoulder.  “I can’t do it- it’s too far up!”

           “Bunny, _I’ll catch you_ ,” he assured.  “I promise!  Just fall back, I’m right here.”

           But my hands would not let go.  I shook my head.  “N-no, Raffles.  I’m sorry; I can’t do it!”

           There was a moment of stillness.  And then, even from so high up, I could hear his disappointed sigh.

            “Very well, Bunny, very well.  That’s alright.  Just climb back inside; I’ll go handle this myself.  I should have thought this through more, I suppose.  Wait for me inside and lower the rope when I come back, and you’ll still get half of whatever it is I find, as promised.”

            But I did not climb back inside.  I still felt quite unable to move.  My mind only raced as my legs trembled and I pressed myself firmly against the stone.  I had promised Raffles I would come with him, that we would do this, whatever this was, together.  And here, even as I showed him cowardice, he was being so kind to me and still promised a reward.  Was that any way for me to return kindness and trust he had so bestowed upon me?  I thought not.

            “W-wait!” I cried out again, hoping he had not chanced yet to walk away, “Wait, I’ll come, I’ll come.  Just… just give me a moment.”

            “That’s it, Bunny!   _Dulce periculum 2!_   _Carpe diem 3!  _Or well, I suppose, _carpe noctum 4 _would be more apt, but either way do try to hurry; I want to have the moonlight for this and it’s getting to its highest now.”

            I would have looked up, but did not dare for the sake of my balance.  My body felt cold as the very stone it touched at the thought of what I was about to do.  If Raffles did not catch me, I was sure I would end up with a broken leg and no way to explain it that could save me from trouble.

            But Raffles had said he would catch me, and so I merely had to trust him.

            “Alright, Raffles, I’m letting go,” I called.

            “I’m right below you,” he assured.

            I nodded, then closed my eyes.  I swallowed, said a silent prayer, and all at once released my hold on the stone windowsill.  My feet teetered on the tiny ledge, and how Raffles had managed to turn and jump from it is something I still wonder to this day.  I pushed off slightly and all I knew was that I was suddenly falling and that everything seemed terrifyingly far away.

Though I seemed to fall forever, it was over in an instant as Raffles caught me securely in his strong arms, and it was only by a miracle that I managed not to scream and alert everyone of our actions.

            “There’s a lad,” Raffles praised, and when I opened my eyes again I could see that he was smiling, and that it gleamed as brightly as the moon which hung over his left shoulder.  “Now then, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

            I made a sort of noise as he set me down, and could still feel my legs shaking.  Raffles either did not notice, or was not concerned.  

            “Alright, let’s get going, then.  Oh!  But before I forget-”  He rushed towards a bush that was near the door, and pulled from beneath it an oil lamp, bringing it towards me.  “Gets rather dark in the thick of the threes- thought we might need this.”

            I did not question when he had hidden that there, nor how long he had been planning this adventure if he had somehow managed to get that lamp and then hide it in the first place.  I only followed obediently as our muffled footsteps cut through the stillness of the night.  Raffles walked quickly and with a grin on his face; I could see a now familiar twinkle in his eye as we approached the threshold of the trees and began to walk between them.

            “Stay close to me, Bunny, I know the path by heart now,” he said.  I nodded, and stayed as close as I could without stepping on his feet.  Raffles lit the lamp only when he had to and held it before us, guiding me down a path made by the steps of others and with leaves pushed to either side.  My anxiety had not left me, as the forest at night seemed darker and more mysterious than I could have imagined.  I worried that a monster might leap at us from behind that tree, or that some animal might attack us, or that some crazy man might hold us at knifepoint and take what little we had, and I suddenly found myself wishing that I was back in my safe and comfortable bed.  

            But Raffles was calm, and I told myself that I should not worry.  He seemed as if he had made this trek dozens of times before, and so was assured of its safety.  I felt that so long as I was with him, I had nothing to fear.  Still, the ever-present fear of being caught sent jolts through me each time I heard something that was not our steps.

            “I’m sorry I kept us,” I said, if only to distract myself.  “The moon isn’t doing us much good…” No light broke through the thick covering of trees above us, and I was quite unsure that even sunlight could make it to the floor.

            “Hm?  Oh, no it’s quite alright.  I knew it would be no help right now; that’s why I brought the lamp.  There’s a clearing I’m looking for, and if the moon’s high enough it shines right down into it; shouldn’t be much longer now and we’ll be there.”

            We walked for perhaps ten more minutes with very little said between us before spotting the clearing Raffles had mentioned.  It was a small but distinct break in the trees, and as he had promised the moon shone directly down and lit the place up magnificently.  Raffles dimmed the lamp and set it on the lone tree stump which occupied the dirt, and we let our eyes adjust.

            “Why are we here, Raffles?” I asked once again, rubbing my eyes and blinking against the darkness.  “Can’t you tell me now?”  My patience was wearing thin, added to by my anxiety over the past twenty minutes or so.  Even with the immense trust I placed in Raffles, and the great joy I felt simply by being in his company, I wanted to know what I was risking myself for.

            “Of course, Bunny, of course, now that you’ve made it this far.”  He smiled at me and sat on the stump.  “You see, I stumbled upon something rather interesting whilst wandering around back here one day.  I happened upon this clearing, but as I was walking through my foot caught on something and I tripped.  At first I assumed it to be a rock, but upon closer inspection it was something distinctly different.”

            He smiled at me, and I could only look back in confusion, waiting for him to continue.

            “Look by my feet, Bunny,” he instructed.  “See that bit poking out of the ground?  That’s what I tripped on.  And if you look closer at it, you’ll see it’s not made of stone.”

            True to his word, from the dirt stuck a small, pyramid shape made of something brown.  I knelt and felt it carefully in my fingers, letting them compensate for my poor vision.  There were two things I could feel; one wood and the other metal.  Three pieces seemed to meet in a corner, and it took me a moment to recognize what it was.

            “It’s the corner of a trunk,” I said.  Raffles beamed at me.

            “Exactly!  Someone’s buried this here some time ago, probably used this stump as a landmark, and I think the rain’s washed away the dirt covering the bit we can see.”  He kicked the corner of the object lightly with his foot.  “And I thought we could finish what nature started and dig this mystery object up ourselves.”

            “Why?”

            “Well, Bunny, to my knowledge people only bury things for very specific reasons, and usually if someone buries a trunk such as this it’s full of something they want to hide, and if they want to hide it, it’s usually valuable.”

            I stared, both at Raffles and at whatever it was poking out of the ground.  This, I knew, was something which would only happen to A. J. Raffles, because no other student you would hear of went gallivanting out to who knows where at night only to come across mysterious objects poking out of the ground in the forest behind his secondary school.

            “So… you want us to dig it up,” I said.  Raffles nodded.

            “And if there’s something valuable in it, we’ll split it between us!”

            “What if there’s nothing in it?”

            “Well, then we’ll have had some good exercise and an entertaining evening which I’m sure you shan’t forget.  Now then!”  He stood suddenly and rushed over to one of the many trees surrounding the clearing, against which lay two spades, and brought them back towards me and our mysterious trunk.  I wondered briefly where he had gotten them and when he had placed them against that tree, but did not ask.  It had become apparent to me that Raffles had been planning this for some time now.  “Let’s get to it!   _Palma non sine pulvere 5!_”

            And so we dug, pulling up pile after pile of dirt and throwing them off into the shadows of the surrounding trees.  We dug until the moon had passed the gap in the canopy and was soon covered by the clouds which had begun to roll in, and Raffles had to relight the lantern.  We dug and dug until the bottoms of our trousers and the soles of our shoes were covered in dirt and I swore my arms were going to fall off until _finally_ the entirety of this mysterious object was uncovered.

            It was, as speculated, a wooden trunk; dark brown with rusty metal edges and an equally degraded hatch lock.  Raffles and I attempted to lift the box from its hole, but even between the two of us it was far too heavy and we were left panting.  Or at least I was; Raffles, for his part, never seemed the slightest bit out of breath.

            “There’s got to be something in it, at this rate!” he beamed.  His voice was filled with an excitement I had never heard before, but it was contagious and despite my exhaustion I smiled in return, now just as eager to find out what our work had earned us.  He was right; surely something so heavy and so hidden had to be valuable.

            “Just need to take care of this lock…”  He raised his shovel and knocked it twice against the rusty hatch.  It quickly broke and fell off, utterly useless.  “Here, Bunny, hold the lantern while I open it.”

            I did as he asked, and with some prying Raffles began to lift the heavy lid of the trunk.  The rusty hinges squeaked in protest, then broke altogether, and he simply threw the lid backwards onto the ground.  I brought the lantern closer so that we might see our treasure, expecting there to be gold or jewels or some other sort of valuable reward.

            “Would you look at that, Bunny,” Raffles said, his voice a quiet awe.  For my part, I was not as impressed.  In the trunk was not gold or jewels, or anything of value which I could see, but instead a large pile of books, some quite thick and others quite small, all bound in leather and stacked haphazardly atop one another.  

            “It’s just books…” I groaned.  “We did all of that just for some books.”

            “Oh, don’t sound so sour, Bunny!” my companion encouraged, beginning to rifle excitedly through the mass of paper and leather.  “With books come knowledge!   _Scientia, aere perennius 6!_”

            I wished he would stop speaking in Latin.  Part of me thought he was, in a strange way, trying to help me learn. Another part of me thought he was simply showing off. More than likely, it was both.

            “Looks like the owner was fond of the drink,” Raffles said, and he pulled a dark bottle of what I could only assume was red wine from a corner of the trunk.  “There’s at least three bottles stashed away in here.”

            So we’d dug up the hidden stash of a drunken bibliophile.  While it was not the outcome I had expected, I admitted myself intrigued by what we had found, and sank to my knees so that I may join in the search.  If I could not have jewels, perhaps I would at least find something with which to entertain myself on a rainy evening.

            There were many things, from novels to books of poetry and even travel writing.  There were titles I did not know, and things in languages I could not read.  It really was an interesting and extensive collection, and I wondered why the person who owned it had thought to bury it, and of all places out in the middle of a forest behind a school.

            “A wonderful question,” said Raffles when I asked.  “There doesn’t appear to be a note, so I don’t suppose we’ll ever know.  Still, look at all these!  He must have been an extremely well-traveled fellow to have them all...”  He picked up a book, the title of which was in Italian, and flipped through it absently.  “All in good condition, too…  The trunk kept them very safe.”

            A realization struck me. “And we’ve just broken it!” I lamented, gesturing towards the overturned lid which now sat on the forest floor with its broken hinges.

            Raffles sighed.  “That we have.  A necessary sacrifice, I suppose, otherwise these may have been buried forever.  By the state of the lock it’s been down here for quite some time, and wasn’t in that good of condition when put down in the first place.”  He inspected the oil lamp, still glowing atop the tree stump.  “Dash it all; I’d have filled it better if I’d known what we were to find.  Wouldn’t mind spending an hour or so out here reading over some of these.  As it is, we really should be getting back or else we’ll be walking in the dark.  Take what you can carry, Bunny; there’s room enough for a few books in the study.  Surely they won’t look out of place there.”

            So we rummaged through the large collection, each of us picking out the books we liked best and replacing the broken lid as best we could atop the trunk.  Raffles opted not to rebury it, saying that he would return as soon as he could to retrieve more of our treasure, and that he’d rather not go through the effort more than once.

            We walked back through the forest, guided by the diminishing light of the lamp.  Raffles hurried me on and I tried to step quickly, but I tripped and nearly spilled my books into the mud and grime at my feet.  He didn’t hurry me so much after that, and we walked slowly next to one another.

           At one point, Raffles put his arm out to stop me, and before I could ask why he made and shushing sound.  It put me on edge, and my gaze darted around, searching futilely in the darkness for any hint of movement.  All of my previous fear returned; I thought of monsters, animals, and an angry drunkard who would be ever so angry we stole his precious books.  I began to shake, but Raffles’ soft voice cut through the stillness.

         “Sorry, Bunny,” he said.  “Could have sworn I heard something.  Let’s keep going.”  

         We never did come across another living thing besides those trees beneath which we walked, but that did not stop me from nervously glancing over my shoulder every ten or so odd paces.  

         When we reached the forest’s edge I expected to see the moon hanging low in the sky, however was greeted instead with a cover of grey clouds, which we had not seen rolling in from under the safety of the canopy.  The air felt thicker than before, heavy with the new promise of rain, and the wind blew to chill.

            Raffles muttered an oath as he switched off the lamp.  “I fear the weather is turning for the worse; now I wish we _had_ reburied the blasted trunk.  Seems it might rain before I get the chance to return.  Come on; let’s hurry before it starts.”

            We started into a run, then, and with no branches for my clumsy feet to catch on, I found myself able to keep up.  Raffles must have been slowing down for my sake, but at the time I did not think of that, only of how it was the middle of the night and I was running across the lawn with dubiously acquired books in my arms and Raffles two paces ahead of me.  I only thought of how this was perhaps the most interesting night of my young life, and how I would never be able to tell the story to anyone.  Our pace slowed as we approached the building, stopping when we neared the forebodingly tall door.

            “Alright, Bunny, now’s the tricky part: getting back inside.”  Raffles stowed the lantern once again beneath the bush and set his books carefully onto the lawn, then took mine and did the same before crouching down to his knees.  “Climb onto my shoulders; I’ll lift you up.”

            I settled myself dubiously onto my companion’s shoulders and sat there as he stood, barely swaying under the addition of my weight.  We must have made a site, two boys in dirty uniforms stacked like strange toys and trying to cling to stone.  I wondered what someone would think if they had caught us, other than that we were in trouble.

            “Alright, Bunny, you’ll have to stand up- hold the ledge for balance, there’s a lad.  Climb on up, then into the window, let the rope down for me, and we’ll be back into our beds quick as you please.”

            Sitting upon his shoulders was one thing, but standing was another entirely.  My legs shook as I tried to balance myself against the wall before me, feet sitting unsurely on the fabric of his jacket.  Raffles did not waver or move, and that made it easier, so I was soon able to do as needed, and climbed up to instead stand on the small ledge from which I had previously fallen.  Sheepishly I clambered through the open window, realizing that I had left it as such in my panic, and lowered myself onto the floor.  After finding the rope coiled within the potted plant, I resolved to tie it around my midsection and hold on as tight as I could in the absence of a better alternative, before throwing it down so that Raffles may climb up.

            His weight pulled terribly against me, and I leaned on the wall for strength, breath leaving me in relief when there was the sound of his foot hitting the small ledge once again, and the weight shifted from the rope to the windowsill.

            “Excellent work, Bunny,” Raffles praised as he pulled himself through the window.  “Now then, let’s pull it back up and be off.”

            Together we began to pull the rope off, a sense of dread spreading through me when I felt a resistance from below. We had been caught! It was Nabs at the other end, I was sure of it, ready to have the both of us expelled! As I began to panic, though, Raffles shushed me.

            “Don’t worry, dear boy, don’t worry.  I’ve merely attached our reward to the end, and we are now pulling it up.  We’re as safe as safe can be.”

            It was then that I noticed he was not wearing his jacket, and soon enough I saw why, as I pulled up the large bundle of books, tied carefully into Raffles’ coat, and secured at the end of the rope.  At this I could not help but smile, thinking how clever my companion was.  Still, I wish he’d mention that before I’d started to panic, but it was a habit he never did shake.

            The window was closed and we started to quietly walk back towards my room, Raffles with a bundle of books in his arms, the rope slung over one shoulder, and a wide grin on his face.  I could not help but stare up at him, and though the light was dim his features seemed as sharp and handsome as they ever had.  His hair was tussled with curls hanging before his eyes and there was a bit of dirt on his left cheek, but somehow it only added to the charm of his smile and the light in his eyes.  I wondered if I looked as such, noticing now how much dirt had gathered on my shoes and trousers.

            “Appears we made it back just in time, Bunny,” Raffles observed, gesturing towards one of the many windows as we passed.  Rain had begun to hit the glass, growing heavier every moment I watched until it was nearly impossible to see past the torrent of water.  “I only mourn for those treasures we left behind…”

            I thought, too, of those books left in the half-hidden trunk surrounded by mud and barely covered by a broken lid.  They had been protected since their burial, and in our selfish searching of the treasure we had ruined what was left of it.  I gazed up at my companion, trying to parse his expression, but he only glanced at me and smiled.  “Well, _quod periit, periit 7_, I suppose.  At any rate those bottles of wine should survive, so perhaps it isn’t a total loss.”

            He laughed softly, and I did not know whether or not he was joking.  I only nodded, and continued to follow him with quiet footfalls down the empty corridor.  My eyes suddenly felt heavy as we approached my room, and my steps became more lethargic as I was soothed by the sound of rain above our heads.  I daresay that I was halfway to sleep by the time we reached my door, and Raffles nudged me gently.

            “Save the sleep for your burrow, Bunny,” he smiled.  “You’re right outside it, at any rate.”

            I nodded and struggled to fight off a yawn, craving nothing more than the warmth of my covers and the comfort of my pillow; and yet it was with reluctance I prepared to enter my room.  It seemed to me that once I did so, the night would be over, and so with it the unique magic of what had transpired.  Never again would I do something like this, I was sure of it! And at the same time I felt as if I had wasted the night, or even made a mockery of it with how afraid I had been. I saw now that I never should have feared, since I had been by Raffles’ side, and I worried that I must have been nothing more than a hindrance to him. I had realized by this point that Raffles had not truly _needed_ my presence, as he could have very well dug the trunk up by himself and left me none the wiser. He had, in fact, brought me with him for no other reason than because he wanted to and it was this fact which only served to further my sorrow. The idea of having proven my uselessness was now sinking like a rock into the deepest pit of my stomach, and I suddenly wanted to hide in shame.

            Raffles, in turn, must have seen my distress, and proved himself to have been the diviner of my innermost thoughts even in our youth, for he set down the pile of books which reached his chin, and patted me gently on the shoulder.

            “I’ve had a good time tonight, Bunny,” he told me, “and I do not believe this will be our last adventure, you can mark my words.”

            With such a smile I found it impossible to do anything but believe him, and the warm touch on my shoulder comforted me further.  I believed that this was only the beginning, that perhaps I would once again find myself running across the lawn beneath the moonlight with Raffles two paces ahead of me and an untellable story sealed behind my lips.  As I look back on this now, I wonder what my younger self would think if he knew that those treasures he so craved would, more than once, find themselves clinking in his pockets as he ran across rooftops next to that same boy who showed him his first adventure. I wonder what that younger version of AJ would think if he knew that he would one day be hiding behind chimney-pots and examining diamonds next to that same toe-headed boy who had so dutifully lowered down the rope.

**Author's Note:**

> Latin Translations
> 
> 1\. Pleasant and profitable  
> 2\. Danger is sweet  
> 3\. Seize the day  
> 4\. Seize the night  
> 5\. No reward without effort  
> 6\. Knowledge, more lasting than bronze  
> 7\. What is gone, is gone.
> 
> Happy Ides of March, everyone!


End file.
